Gov. Gavin Newsom starts his California budget balancing act

Gov. Gavin Newsom discusses emergency preparedness during a visit to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection CalFire Colfax Station Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019, in Colfax, Calif. On his first full day as governor, Newsom announced executive actions to improve the state's response to wildfires and other emergencies. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Photo: Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press

When Gov. Gavin Newsom announces the details of his first state budget Thursday, he’ll try to have something in it for all the various California interest groups that backed his November election landslide.

It’s a guarantee that whatever he proposes won’t make everyone happy.

Newsom “has to balance his base and ... mathematics,” said Mike Madrid, a Republican consultant who worked for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa during the June primary. “He has to look at what he’s been saying for a year and a half and make it pencil out.”

It’s a tightrope for the former San Francisco mayor, especially since he’s following the famously frugal Jerry Brown. During his eight years in office, the former governor took California from a $27 billion deficit to a $30 billion surplus, thanks to tough budgeting, a voter-approved tax hike and an improving national economy that boosted state revenues.

Newsom acknowledged Brown’s leadership in his inaugural address Monday and promised to follow his fiscal example. To a point.

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“We will prepare for uncertain times ahead. We will be prudent stewards of taxpayer dollars, pay down debt and meet our future obligations,” Newsom said. “But let me be clear: We will be bold. We will aim high and we will work like hell to get there.”

In his budget, Newsom will try to distinguish himself from Brown and provide a glimpse of his vision for California’s future, said Darry Sragow, a Democratic strategist and publisher of the California Target Book, which focuses on state politics.

“Newsom is likely to put more emphasis on soft programs, people programs, rather than the physical programs that Brown favored,” Sragow said. “He has to be fiscally responsible, but he also has to ... advocate for his plans and programs.”

The new governor already has talked about some of his budget priorities. Just hours after taking office, he said his budget would provide close to $2 billion for early childhood education and child care, one of his top campaign promises. The money would allow more schools to establish full-day kindergarten programs, provide training for child-care workers, and increase health screening for expectant mothers and young children.

The governor also wants to provide state Medi-Cal health coverage to young undocumented immigrants and expand Affordable Care Act subsidies to more middle-class families, ideas that come with as-yet-undisclosed costs. Together, all these plans highlight Newsom’s commitment to radically changing the health care system.

“What’s important is that (Newsom) clearly lays out his vision of what California should look like in future years, even as he reminds his supporters that nothing will happen overnight,” Sragow said. “He’s not just playing to voters, but also to his constituencies.”

John Wildermuth is a native San Franciscan who has worked as a reporter and editor in California for more than 40 years and has been with the San Francisco Chronicle since 1986. For most of his career, he has covered government and politics. He is a former assistant city editor and Peninsula bureau chief with The Chronicle and currently covers politics and San Francisco city government.